India has just witnessed a unique event - its first green referendum in which people had to vote for or against a mining project. The results are out, although the process of a referendum has not yet been concluded.

A majority of people have already voted against the project. Unlike parliamentary or assembly elections, this referendum is an open process. Out of 12 'constituencies' that are part of this unprecedented exercise, eight have said no to the project with an overwhelming majority. So the result of the referendum in the rest four does not matter.

While echo of this green poll was hardly audible in Delhi, it did create ripples in far away London because the referendum has sealed the fate of one of the largest bauxite mining projects in the world belonging to Vedanta group in Orissa.

Noted novelist Arundhati Roy and other social activists in a protest against Vedanta Resources held in the Capital last week

To make the matter worse for the mining giant, the referendum coincided with the annual general meeting of Vedanta Resources in London. The repercussions of the green poll are bound to rattle board rooms in India as well.

Is this the beginning of green democracy in India? Are new projects in future going to be decided with a vote of local villagers? Does billions of dollars worth of investment depend on what a handful of people think about their local deities and gods? Are grazing rights of tribals more important than the need for India to attract foreign direct investments? Shouldn't the same kind of referendum be held in nuclear project sites of Kundankulam or Jaitapur?

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Such uncomfortable questions are bound to be raised in the wake of the outcome of Niyamagiri referendum over the coming weeks and months. One can argue that the case of Niyamagiri, inhabited by indigenous people called Dongria Kondh and presided over by the deity of Niyamaraja, is different from sites of other such mega projects.

At stake in Niyamagiri are cultural and religious beliefs of the tribals as well as their right to forest areas for grazing and livelihood. In fact, action groups from Orissa contend that the referendum should have been held in over 160 villages inhabited by Dongrias and not just one dozen villages which are on the hill slopes.

Also, remember that the whole process came about only due to a directive of the Supreme Court issued in April 2013 that village assemblies in the affected area should decide if the mining project, in any way, affected their religious and cultural rights.

Just like Dongrias, people in other parts of the country are agitated over new projects. The case of Chitradurga district in Karnataka where a cluster of space, defence and atomic energy projects is being developed in grazing lands is another example.

The Forest Rights Act recognises rights of people living in forests or on areas classified as forest lands, or those depending on forests and forest land for a livelihood. Rights of such people can't be usurped. Significantly, the Act empowers gram sabhas (village assemblies) and not gram panchayats to decide on who gets the rights and make a recommendation to the taluka and district level committees.

In the case of Niyamgiri, gram sabhas have given their verdict against Vedanta. The moot question is: will Niyamagiri set a precedent or will it remain an exception?

Two events caused Kedarnath blow

Scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology have concluded that Kedarnath was hit with not one but two disaster events. The first one occurred on June 16 at 5:15 pm, when torrential rains flooded the Saraswati river and Dudh Ganga catchment areas resulting in excessive flow in all the channels.

Scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology have concluded that Kedarnath was hit with two disaster events

This triggered very active erosion causing excessive water and sediment accumulation in the major rivers. As a result, large volumes of water struck the town with sediment and debris washing off upper part of the temple town. The second event took place on June 17 at 6:45 am, after overflow and collapse of moraine dammed Chorabari Lake which released large volume of water that caused another flash flood in the Kedarnath town leading to heavy devastation downstream.

"Accumulation of millions of gallons of water in moraine dammed lake within three days increased its potential energy and reduced shear strength of the dam. Ultimately it breached devastation in the Kedarnath valley", scientists have explained in the latest edition of journal Current Science.

Get ready for GPS of the brain!

A group of American researchers have identified a new type of cell in the brain that helps people to keep track of their relative location while navigating unfamiliar places - much like a GPS.

It has been named grid cell because of the triangular grid pattern in which the cell activates during navigation. It is distinct among brain cells because its activation represents multiple spatial locations.

The grid cells allow the brain to keep track of navigational cues such as how far you are from a starting point or your last turn.

The finding is based on actual human brain recordings done among epilepsy patients who had electrodes implanted in their brains as part of their treatment, according to the study published in journal Nature Neuroscience.

The court ruling in the Gleevec case has set the ball rolling for other cancer drugs. Now authorities have revoked a patent granted to GSK for salt form of breast cancer drug lapatinib, under the patent law which discourages evergreening of patents.

However, the patent granted for lapatinib will stay in force. In the case involving Gleevec, the SC had ruled a secondary tier of qualifying standards for chemical substance in order to leave the door open for genuine invention.

The court had held that the patent law place the invention threshold further higher and exclude "salts, esters, ethers" and other derivatives of known substances from patenting.